


Conversations of Life and Death

by Coffeetailor



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Pre-Series, Shinigami
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 02:34:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29128074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coffeetailor/pseuds/Coffeetailor
Summary: Life convinces Death to take a shot at doing some living himself. Set before the plot of the series. Very little to do with actual canon events.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	Conversations of Life and Death

Death was tired. He’d barely had time to think between flitting between one part of the world and up to the colonies and back. But what else was there to do, when war and plague stalked the human race? Even divided between his aspects, there was no rest. And even for someone as endless and immortal as he was, his mental energy wasn’t everlasting.

After releasing yet another soul on the planet, he felt a tug towards the stars. Looking skyward, the spector smiled. It wasn’t often that Life called for him. For all that the two were balanced counterparts, they rarely met at the same place and time. And when they did... well, Life was not usually in a mood for conversation. So, what made him reach out now?

Death released his sense of gravity, dark wings opening up and scooping past the air to deliver him towards the glittering stars. It didn’t take long for him to know where he was being called to. L2 was no stranger to him. So dark and grim that Life stood out like a beacon among the poorest streets, perched on a long-empty newspaper box and idly guiding a patch of weeds to grow and twist around it.

“Life,” he greeted, stepping down onto the ground. Out of courtesy, he chose a spot where nothing was growing, so there’d be nothing to whither at his touch. “I felt you call for me.”

“I did,” Life said with a little nod. His wings were drooped low, yet at the same time spread out to cover more ground. Someone felt that same exhaustion, if for a different reason. “It’s been some time since we’ve spoken. You’ve been keeping yourself busy.”

Death snorted. “Too busy and a half. Every time I think I’ve caught up for a breath, they find a new way to kill each other faster. I don’t know how you keep up with your half.”

“They do most of the work,” Life chuckled softly, if without his usual warmth.

“Was there something you wanted to tell me?” Death asked, raising an eyebrow. He gathered his wings to himself, crouching down to examine the other’s work, careful not to touch at the same time. “Not that I mind the company.”

“It just makes you suspicious,” Life filled in for him. He shook his head. “I’m not going to ask you to stop your work, I promise. But I have a gift for you.”

Death eyed him, straightening up. A gift? “I’m listening.”

Instead of saying anything, Life left his weeds to pull a bundle out of his cloak, holding it out. Death recognized the shape of a human baby in an instant, his eyes narrowing as he looked up at the other. But Life only pushed it closer to him.

He didn’t understand. As much as the saying had long been that Life sent him gifts and he kept them, it’d never been directly, hand to hand. Those gifts were simply living creatures, who always inevitably died. They wandered his way without knowing, but also without alternate course. Life had never handed him something to kill.

Slowly, Death reached for the child before stopping, his eyes flickering wide. The baby breathed, its cheeks were full of color, and yet... “There’s no soul in this.”

“I know. I made it that way,” Life said, still holding it out. “Death, you’re tired.”

“Not as tired as you are if you’re making humans without souls,” Death said, moving back away from the thing. Without a soul, it wasn’t his domain. He couldn’t take what wasn’t there. “It’s not really human without one.”

“And it won’t be,” the other said, not moving to take the bundle back. “You’re tired.”

Death rolled his eyes. “You already said that. What’s it got to do with this?”

"It's not for you to take," Life said with a sigh. "It's for you to rest inside. To live a mortal life with. Your aspects can manage your duties for a while. But you've been going so long, I think taking some time away would do you good."

"Live as a human?" Death asked, fairly certain that the stress of the recent centuries had driven his counterpart mad. It was bound to happen eventually, really. "You really can't be serious about that."

"I'm very serious," the other said, holding the bundle out again. "Humans don't live very long, so it won't be forever. Just give yourself the chance to _rest_."

Death sighed, looking down at the empty little body again. "Is there some family looking for this thing?"

Life huffed, perfectly scandalized by the idea that he would have stolen a life away from an expecting family. "I told you, I made it for you. From scratch. There isn't any family attached to it. They'll think its an orphan from the wars. I'll see that someone takes care of you comfortably while you're helpless."

Raising an eyebrow, Death looked around the ruined city around them. "Comfortable, here? If I'm going to live a human life, you might as well let me take the risk and go in for it."

"Are you sure?" Life asked, hesitating. He wasn't sure exactly how restful life around here would be. He'd only called Death to this place in particular because it was where he'd been when the body finished forming. And the last thing he wanted to do was cause his oldest friend (no matter some of their differences) more stress. That was completely counter to what he'd been aiming to do. "I'd thought to bring you to Earth."

Death shook his head, starting to warm to the idea. But in his own fashion. "I'll take the body. But I want you to leave me here, to really live as a human."

"Here where?" Life asked slowly, looking around. There didn't seem to be any appropriate place to leave a child in sight.

"Right here," Death said, pointing to the newspaper box Life had been sitting on when he'd shown up. "You can lead someone here, but I'll live in this city, however that happens. I don't want you hovering over me the whole time. When it's time for the life to tend, that'll be it."

Life chewed his lip. That really hadn't been his intentions, but if that's what Death wanted... "At least let me give the body a blessing of health. You know the diseases here. Let me protect you from those."

"Fine, fine, no point in doing this if I'm just going to catch one of the plagues before I can walk," Death said with a shrug, fine with that much if it made his friend less worried. He reached out a hand to the bundle, laying his hand on it again. Death offered the other a small smile. "Guess I'll see you if a few years."

"Don't rush back too quickly," Life said, covering Death's hand with one of his own. "I'll be around, even if you won't let me protect you." He smiled and pushed his power into the body he held, the image of his counterpart in front of him flickering out of sight before vanishing completely even as a shadow faded into the little body. He shifted his grip to cradle the infant in his arms, looking down at him. Violet eyes opened and stared up at him with the seriousness of a child. "Welcome to life, my friend. Stay safe for a bit. Your first caretaker is coming."

He opened up the old newspaper box, gently setting the baby inside and leaving it open, resisting the desire to comfort the baby as it began to wail. And there he lingered, unseen, as a boy only a few years older wandered their way, looking for scraps of food. His head shot up at the sound of crying.

"Wha? Who left you here?" the kid asked, peering into the box. "That ain't right." Making a face, he reached in and picked up the bundled baby, peering down at it. "Well, I guess you can stay with me. But you'll have to pull your weight. When you learn to walk." He bounced the baby, grinning when that crying stopped. "See, that's not so bad. Don't got a name for you, but you can call me Solo when you get to talking. I'll teach you a bunch."

Unseen, Life smiled as his old friend was carried off. He could tell why those boy had been drawn there, realizing it with a pinch of sadness. The boy wouldn’t live that many more years, but he would take care of Death in his human body until then.

“I’ll see you again soon,” Life said softly before he he too slipped away and left the dirty street empty. He had his own date to meet on another colony. And perhaps had a feeling that he might see his friend again before his mortal life ended. Before either of theirs did, even if L4 was about as different from this colony as it was possibly to be. If nothing else, this would be interesting.


End file.
